Carter Cotton Top

At 14 months old, Carter is certainly an active little bundle of joy!  He laughs at his own antics and gets a kick out of us discovering him doing something (either an accomplishment or something naughty!). As I nurse him to sleep, this little stinker gently bites me and smiles when he is done. He even lets out a little smirk when I say ouch.  It is easy to turn his cry into a belly laugh just be making a funny noice or tickling him.  His voice has transitioned almost over night into a screetch...  Oh the fun in screetching! He is the comedian of the family and loves to be the spotlight :). 

He gets a cup and brings it to us when he wants water...  Sometimes he just crawls right in!

He has CLAIMED this lawn mower... He lets out the notorious screetch if anyone touches it.

He is running and throwing.  And growing his little cotton top too!

He is a helper and a watcher.  When I turn on the water, he runs over to the spray nozzle knowing that it is ready to be used :). 

Do you see that look?!

That look too?  He gets away with a lot!

When I took the boots out for Kyle's trip to the ranch, he grabbed a pair and would not leave me alone until put them on his feet. 

He rides horses too...

...Until he crashes and laughs.

There is that look again... Hummm!

Uh oh, he found the crayons and made a run for it!

His attempt at a sumersault.

At the end of the day, he is still ready for a good cuddle!

Cowboy Kyle

Kyle is finally old enough for a real visit to the Galloping Grace horse ranch.  He was pretty excited and dad was able to take the morning off to make it extra special.  So off they went just the 2 of them on a daddy date to shovel horse poop & saddle up like real cowboys do!  It is hard to believe that it was exactly 2 years ago that Josh went (click here to see his visit) for the first time, where does the time go?!

All suited up!  Boy, he is looking extra tall to me these days!

An animal lover is he, I wish I could have seen his interactions with the horses.

a phone picture that mike captured, he looks like a natural on that horse!

He told Mike that these big logs looked just like Lincoln Logs- He had a great time!

Just for kicks and giggles, Mike took a video of Kyle doing ranch chores!

Fire Station Trip

A couple of weeks ago we took a field trip to a fire station with J's school... Mike's mom was able to join us in the fun :). 

All the kids got a fire hat to take home, even the littlest ones!

Everyone listened carefully when a fire fighter had something to say.

Jakey was pretty excited! Lately everything is in the context of 'when I am a big strong man', so you can imagine what he said he wanted to be when he grew up (at least for a few days following!). 

 

He really thought the trucks were neat!

Josh the driver.

Kyle the driver.

Carter, ready for action!

Fire gear demo

Group picture

Soccer season

We took the plunge and became soccer parents!  For the past couple of months our Saturday mornings were spent at the soccer field watching the little man play soccer.  He was on a fantastic team of only 5 players (at his age in this league, they play 3 vs. 3) and they did really well. 

Come meet the Blue & White Fireballs! 

Pre-game strategy talk

There was lots of running...

...Ball kicking

...Throw ins

Daddy encouragement

Great coaching!

Half-time baby love!

End of the game "good job & high five parent tunnel" to run through.

Humm, I wonder who our next soccer star will be?

Joshua truly enjoys soccer and we saw determination like we had never seen in him before.  He would come home from a long day of practice and a game and then head to the back yard to set up his own drills with any and all balls that he could find.

GOAL!!!

...more practice, he seriously practiced on his own most days during the season... This particular day in his very own soccer outfit that he created by rummaging through his drawers :)!

The coach told the team that he would wear these silly sunglasses if there was a game that everyone on the team scored... Guess what?!  He wore them on the last game :)! 

During the end of the year party, the boys had fun wearing them too!  J and Jamie (pictured below) have been friends since they were babies :).

Coach's speech

The boys with their trophies!

Can't forget the coaches and team referee!

Jake's Nursery Rhymes

Two in a half years old is a fun stage... Rebellion- Yes, lots of No's- Yes, "I can do it myself"- Yes & new discoveries/abilities daily- Yes!   Jacob has exploded in all areas of learning and these days he particularly is into learning songs and rhymes.  We can hear him practicing during quiet time via the baby monitor.  He has a Nursery Rhyme board book that he has memorized and reads it to me and Carter everyday while I rock and feed him.  Here is a glimpse of it that I captured:

Did you catch his modernization of "Sing a Song of Sixpence"?  He has no idea of what 'a pocket full of rye' is so it has become 'a pocket full of fries'! 

Frog and toad

Stuck in the middle are these two... In fact we frequently refer to them as the middles.  They may have this stigma as the middle children for the rest of their lives, but at least Kyle and Jacob band together in this role.  At 15 months apart, they frequently get grouped together (and usually don't mind) almost like twins.  At any given moment throughout the day they are either loving on either (like best friends) or bickering with either (like brothers). 

Currently, one of our favorite series of readers are the 'Frog and Toad' books.  The middles particularly love these books and frequently play out the roles of these hilarious characters.  Sometimes on purpose and sometimes not... They just have those innocent comical conversations going.


Ice cream and jelly beans...
For an after dinner treat, K picked an ice cream cone and J picked 5 jelly beans. 
They both join at the patio table- 
K- You picked Jelly beans?
J- Yes, here I got one for you.  It is a red one, Kyle. 
K- Thanks, I got ice cream... You can have a small lick (as he shoves it in J's face). 
J- That is good ice cream Kyle!
K- Yes it is, your jelly bean is good too. 
Pause as they both finish their treats.


Here's to the middle kids, for being so patient with the rest of the family and for finding joy and friendship in each other in the meantime!

 For being so kind and helpful to each other when it comes to finishing your dinner so that you can share a treat together.

 Tackle hug when they really need one!

  They are always cheering each other on when they learn a new trick.

 Having fun and getting goofy!

 Everyone could use an extra hug!

 And someone to sit next to and eat an ice pop with while watching birds.

Enjoying a soccer game while sharing a chair!

 Ironically our little back yard friend, Mr. Toad, paid a visit a couple of weeks ago and it is an understatement to say that Kyle was intrigued! 

 He said that the toad was his friend and he wanted to hop around with him so he could see where he lived. 

 J was a bit timid, but Kyle was ready to pick him up...

We sure love our little stuck in the middles!